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fishteethfishteeth Posts: 2,245 ✭✭✭✭✭
The following coins make up not only a coin collection but a collection of memories. These coins that are pictured below are, for the most part, pieces that
could be found in any dealers junk box. To me they are priceless. This group of coins will hopefully never be sold. Every other coin in my collection could
be sold for a price. These pieces are not even found in my inventory spread sheets. This posting has been floating in my head for a while.
I think the main reason I am posting this is for myself. Thought it would be nice to get these together in one place with a short description and reason for their importance. Hopefully some of you will find this posting intersting. These are not my best pictures, however, these coins are about the story behind them, not their grade.

Feel free to post any sentimental pieces you may have in your set.

Sorry for any gramar or spelling, I'm a dentist, not a writer.


1986 silver eagle. This is the first coin I ever purchased. I first got interested in coins in 1985 when I found a box of random foreign coins in our new house at
the age of 7. By random chance a year later I wandered by a coin shop in the center of town and talked my parents into going in. The rest is history.
I found this american eagle and after listening to the story about it from the dealer I was hooked. I guess I am proof that "bullion" from the mint can create collectors

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Shortly after getting interested in coins my Mom gave me this 1901-O morgan. The coin had been given to her by her grandmother, born in 1889. I have vague memories of
this greatgrandmother as a small child, she died at age 96, but here was something tangible from her. This coin also represents a mortal sin in coins, I cleaned it.
It was too dark and dirty when she gave it to me, not shiny like the American Eagle I had just gotten. A few weeks later I learned cleaning was not a good thing


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As My collecting interest grew the local dealer pointed me twords mercury dimes as a set to build. The collection, except for a few keys, could be found for around melt.
For the next year or so my father and I would spend many Saturday mornings with the dealer helping me pick out nice coins for my album. The dealer would point out cleaned
and damaged coins and helped me start to develop an eye. The memories I have of building this set piece by piece with my father are priceless. The 1916-d was too expensive
for an 8-9 yr old. Up until about 10 yrs ago I would still occasionally upgrade pieces and almost added the 1916-d. I have since decided to never switch out any of the
coins, or add 16-d. This is one set I consider completed, even without the 16-d.


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1853 half dime. This coin was given to me by my Moms father. My Grandfather recieved this well worn half dime in chage during the depression in Tennesee
His family was very poor during the recession but he never spent this piece. Several years before he died he gave it to me with the story.


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loupe. This isn't a coin but very important. I was blessed to have three of my great grandparents alive until I was in my early 20's (age 93,96 and 99). This loupe
belonged to my fathers grandmother. Turns out that in the 40's and 50's, maybe 60's she was a coin dealer with her cousin. This was one of her loupes.


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When my greatgrandmother, the one time coin dealer, passed away at age 99 in 1999 we found these two coins in her belonings. No idea of the reason she kept
them for all these years, but perhaps a few pieces of stock she never sold when she got out of coins.


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Encased cent given to me by my father. He recieved it as a child. The token also hails from the town I was born in.
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1951 proof cent. Probably one of the ugliest proof lincolns out there. As a child My dad and I used to spend a lot of Fridays at the local bidboard.
My father always took me and could control me from bidding on problem coins. One night he was sick and my mom filled in, her only excursion ever into coins.
Well the coin could have been better, but I will always remember the night.

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1943 copper FAKE. This coin gave me the shortest 5 minutes of excitment ever. As my merc set was coming to completion the dealer recommended I start lincolns.
He said he had a perfect bag to get me started. The bag contained 1500 lincolns and I could have the whole bag for 30 dollars. Well, now that I look back on it, he
must have enriched the contents. The bag contained a full roll of 1909 vdb's up to unc, every lincoln from 09-58 except for a few of the keys, included 22-d, 11's etc
and this 1943 fake copper. When I found the coin I remember running upstairs yelling. My dad quickly realized a magnet would determine wether it was genuine. It stuck
Still exciting


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1987 quarter. By 1987 I was filling Dansco's. When i broke the sets apart for spare change I luckily saved this one.

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1919 buffalo. In highschool I spent a summer in Europe. While there It came out that I collected coins. Upon hearing this the people I was staying with pulled
out this buffalo. They had no idea where it came from. It is a nice 63-64 and must have been brough to Europe right after WWI


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1830 Bustie. This is the coin responsible for my current collecting interst. about 5 yrs ago, I was graduating dental school, had a signing bonus in my hand and was at my
favorite coin shop. The dealer recommended that now that I had an income I might consider bust coinage. Well this was in the group, I've been hooked ever since.
Just wish you could find them like this for 60.00 now

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Grandfathers Dog tag. This is probably the one most important coin in my collection. My grandfather, different from the one who gave me the half dime,
created this during WWII. He was a seabee and on the way to Guadacanal, and his first action. He and some friends ground down some WLH
and made dog tags/good luck tokens from Half dollars they picked up in San Francisco before being shipped out. My grandfather carried this coin for the entire war,
from being cut off on Guadacanal and forced to eat wormy oatmeal to his leave in New Zealand and Australia and every other island in between.
The day he gave this to me he spent an entire afternoon mapping his 4 yrs in the South Pacific. Along with this coin he gave me a box of all of his WWII
momentos and a pocket watch he carried. This coin really is full of history, even has the corrosion to prove it

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1939 Double die Jeff. This coin is two first for me. My first cherrypick and the first coin I sent to be graded. I pulled this coin from a fleamarket dealers junk bin.
I paid 25 cents for it in 1990. My 12 yr eyes could see something was not right with it. The local dealer confirmed it to be a DBL die and recommended I get it
graded. Well 25 dollars and 2 months later it came back in plastic. I thought it was so cool to have a "real" coin. I have since grown to dislike coins in plastic,
but I will never crack this one

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Fugio Cent. Being born in New Haven has always led to me having a special interst in these. In fact in the 4th grade I did a report on Fugio cents, color drawings
and all. Well about 10 yrs ago friends of mine near New Haven located this along with several hundred other coins in their fathers estate. The accumulation
was a collectors dream. I spent 2 days going through the set. There were counterstamps and early tokens, Ct coppers, bust coins and all types of Spanish, Canadian
and English.
there was even an ANA token from the early 1900's. Very few post Civil war coins. The collection was well beyond the means of an undergrad student to buy.
They were in no rush to sell and said they would hold it for me. Well for my time they gave me this fugio cent and 2 1907 ten dollar indians (one of which grade MS64).
Gives you an idea at the size of the collection. Well fast forward 6 yrs and I get a call from my friends, their son had stolen the collection and pawned it off to
feed his drug habit, what a waste.

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Civil war token. This item is more about the holder than the coin. This coin is a circa 1989 Bid board win and the only coin I havew still in an original 2x2 circa 1989.
The description was written by my dad and the #41 on the reverse is a 12 year olds attemp at a catalogue system. The system consited of me going through
the album starting at #1 and continuing. This sysytem was very complex but its failings soon became obvious. This would have been my 41st coin.


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Roll of bicentenial quarters. My grandfather who gave me the dog tag decided when the bicentenial quarters came out to save several rolls for his grandchildren.
I was born in 1977 and at that time he put my name on a roll. Unfortunetly the other rolls given to my bother, sister and cousins have been destroyed.


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